Overview
- Develops the dynamic of question-and-answer as a critical strategy to understand and appreciate films
- Addresses challenging issues in film analysis such as “overreading”, the possibility of critical speculation, and the much-debated divide between “surface” and “deeper” meanings.
- Probes various ways of understanding ambiguity through detailed readings of a diverse range of films, including Ten (Abbas Kiarostami, 2002), Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (Fritz Lang, 1956), and Force Majeure (Ruben Östlund, 2014).
Part of the book series: Palgrave Close Readings in Film and Television (CRFT)
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Table of contents (7 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Pursuits of Reasons
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Front Matter
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Drama of Doubt
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
This book defends an account of ambiguity which illuminates the aesthetic possibilities of film and the nature of film criticism. Ambiguity typically describes the condition of multiple meanings. But we can find multiple meanings in what appears unambiguous to us. So, what makes ambiguity ambiguous? This study argues that a sense of uncertainty is vital to the concept. Ambiguity is what presses us to inquire into our puzzlement over a movie, to persistently ask “why is it as it is?” Notably, this account of the concept is also an account of its criticism. It recognises that a satisfying assessment of what is ambiguous involves both our reason and doubt; that is, reason and doubt can work together in our practice of reading. This book, then, considers ambiguity as a form of reasonable doubt, one that invites us to reflect on our critical efforts, rethinking the operation of film criticism.
Reviews
“Law’s selections are refreshingly diverse…. Most importantly, his collection is a testament to the importance of active viewing, of entering a critical dialogue with a piece of art rather than taking it all in at face value.” (Thomas Puhr, Film International)
“The great film director Alexander Mackendrick once declared: ‘Ambiguity does not mean lack of clarity’. Hoi Lun Law brings a razor-sharp eye, ear and mind to the question of ambiguity in cinema, and how film criticism can best discern and explore it. This is a highly significant and original book – lucid, engaging, well-written and persuasive, while also subtly challenging many of our received ideas about the workings of ambiguity.” (Prof. Adrian Martin, author of Mysteries of Cinema)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Hoi Lun Law has previously taught at the University of Bristol and the University of the West of England, UK.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Ambiguity and Film Criticism
Book Subtitle: Reasonable Doubt
Authors: Hoi Lun Law
Series Title: Palgrave Close Readings in Film and Television
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62945-8
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media Studies, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-62944-1Published: 03 February 2021
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-62947-2Published: 04 February 2022
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-62945-8Published: 02 February 2021
Series ISSN: 2634-6133
Series E-ISSN: 2634-6141
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: IX, 188
Number of Illustrations: 15 b/w illustrations, 10 illustrations in colour
Topics: Close Reading, Film Theory